John Manners wrote:
> Paul Womack writes:
>>> Polishing or Oiling: Planes. >> Planes made from naturally dried beech-
>> wood are much lighter in colour than those made from artificially
>> dried or steamed beech. For planes made of the first-named beech, use
>> raw linseed oil, 1 gill; dragon's blood, 1 pennyworth ; yellow ochre,
>> as much in bulk as dragon's blood ; The usual recommendation with new
>> wooden planes was to remove the irons,> set the wedge lightly, plug
>> the mouth with putty, fill the cavity with> linseed oil and wait for
>> about a week until the oil has been absorbed. > Job's done.

Yes; it is this treatment that I'm addressing. It appears from
Spons that this was NOT "usual" in 1883, or at least that an
alternative existed.

And by 1928 Woodworker said that soaking was wrong - so wrong that
manufacturers would not warrent a tool so treated

So the question becomes; "in what period was a full linseed
soaking usual?"

I certainly recall a reference speaking of a plane being weighed, soaked
in oil, weighed again, and the weight of the taken-up oil being charged
by the shop that owned the barrel of oil, but I can't remember which
reference :-(

   BugBear
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